Hens eating rhubarb leaves! Dangerous?

[WileECoyote]

I've been letting my hens into the vegetable garden lately. So far they seem to do more good than harm, scratching around eating grubs and small snails. They take a few pecks at the brassicas but they are sufficiently big for a few bites not to be a problem. Wouldn't trust them in there with veg seedlings though.

Anyway, I've noticed the rhubarb has a lot of hen-sized bites taken out of the leaves. Is rhubarb dangerous to hens? I know humans aren't supposed to eat it due to the oxalic acid present but don't know how hens react. They all seem happy and healthy enough despite their unexpected meal yesterday and all have laid since.

 

[chrismahon]

Rhubarb leaves are very poisonous WileECoyote. Presumably they tried them and spat the leaf out, otherwise they should be dead. Ours run through the rhubarb in the veg plot but never touch the leaves -too many other tasty things there I suppose.